The Paths We Take
by Sepherif
Summary: Ash, a 15 year old trainer sets out on the adventure of his lifetime. Naruto decides to alleviate some boredom, after all, being alive for 800 years can make a guy bored. Full summary inside. M for eventual intense violence and language.
1. Chapter 1

**Ok...I don't know why I am doing this...but here it goes...**

Summary: The world of Pokemon, not as classically portrayed as a peaceful place. Instead it is very dangerous, unforgiving and corrupt. Adventure is still there, just not a walk in the park.

Ash Ketchum, a young trainer who starts his journey at the age of 15 sets off to be the best he can be in the dangerous and unforgiving region of Kanto. Along the way he meets allies, enemies and more than he could possibly imagine, a different world. And what happens when a certain blond decides to alleviate some boredom?

**Ok...this story is rated M for a few reasons. The biggest reason is the amount of blood, gore and violence that will be taking place in this story followed by cursing and some sexual reference. There will be humor in case some of you are wondering about the whole 'doom and gloom' thing. No fear, jokes will be cracked to release tension at opportune moments (some dark humor as well). Though will remain Horror/Adventure.**

**As for romance, well...we'll see.**

**Oh and...yes. This is a crossover between Naruto and Pokemon. It will take place in the Pokemon world though, mostly.**

**PokemonxNaruto: The Paths We Take**

**Chapter 1: Beginning**

"This world we live in is filled with extra-ordinary creatures. We keep these creatures by our side as companions and friends. These creatures are called Pokemon, and can be very dangerous." Those words, spoken by the great Professor Oak, ran through a certain boys head as he crashed through a bush and raced across the green grass. 'I really should not have thrown that rock...' yelled the boy to himself as an angry Spearow swooped from the sky, claws open wide and beak ready to grab the closest body part to start ripping up. It cawed loudly, spurring the young boy to sprint even harder. "Someone! HELP!" he yelled. He felt a slight gust as the Spearow narrowly missed his head once again, cawing in frustration it resumed the chase. The two soon crested a small hill and a town surrounded by a moat and a wooden barricade came into view. The boy cried in relief and picked up his pace ever so slightly as his primal instincts screamed safety is right up ahead. He pressed forward, but felt a sharp pain in his right calf and he fell forward, tumbling down the hill making quite a ruckus. He cried out in pain and gripped his hurting leg only to feel a hot liquid slide down his leg and pool slightly in his hands. He knew what it was, it was blood. He stood up shakily and walked quietly, but to no avail as the Spearow noticed him and dove at him. He could not react as the ferocious little bird homed in and started pecking and slashing. The boy threw his arms and flailed them around, receiving several punctures and scratches, all oozing blood. He cried out in pain and fell down. He eventually whacked the Spearow hard enough that it spun to the ground dazed, seeing it's moment of weakness, the boy kicked out with his good leg (as it had fallen very close to him) and hit the little bird in the head with a slight crunch. Panting from exhaustion and pain, the boy slowly stood up and limped the rest of a good half mile to the small towns borders. The guards saw the boy coming and saw his condition. They sent for the towns doctor to see to the boy. As he reached 20 feet from the gates he fell to ground and the guards panicked. Two jumped from their posts to the ground 20 feet below with a solid 'thump' and ran across the bridge to the boy to check his vitals.

"Oi! Kid, wake up!" Yelled one of the guards as they reached him.

"He's alive." stated the other who had gotten there a few seconds earlier and was now taking his pulse, "Seems he was attacked by a Spearow, only other thing that would'a caused those wounds round here is a Pidgey, but they're way to docile." The first guard nodded in agreement and he looked behind him as the gates opened and a man in a white coat carrying a blue case with a red cross on it ran across the bridge to where the two men were.

"Hold on there Ash..." whispered Oak as he opened the box and took out several packs of antiseptic and a roll of gauze. Oak then proceed to the sterilize and wrap the boy's, Ash's, injuries. They weren't serious, just a few deep cut and punctures. Nothing that wouldn't heal, although it would leave a few faint scars, "Everything's gonna be alright."

"Pro...professor?" croaked Ash as he came back into conciousness.

"Yeah?" replied Oak quickly with a worried look in his eye

"I wanna learn how to be a trainer, I wanna be just like you were when you were one." said Ash. Oak smiled at this as he finished wrapping Ash's wounds. He carefully picked the boy up and carried him into the town.

(A long time ago, In another dimension/parallel world (Don't be picky here))

"Wha-!" yelled a surprised blond clad in orange as another man with spiky black hair, orange swirly mask and ANBU like armor on suddenly collapsed on himself and created a time-space vortex, trying to suck in the blond and die with him, "Damn it Madara! Fucking bastard!" yelled (the hopefully identified) Naruto

"If I am going down, you're coming with me, Namikaze!" sneered Madara as he distorted into Space-time, destroying the surrounding area. Tree's ripped apart, rocks crumbled and the landscape was mutilated.

"Damn it!" Yelled Naruto as he held onto the ground using what little chakra he had left and digging h is hands into the crevices of a rock, which as a testament to his luck, began to dissolve. Naruto desperately looked around for another way to keep himself from falling into oblivion. As he looked around he was reminded of all that had happended in the past few hours of his fight with Uchiha Madara. Bodies lay strewn across the ground beneath the cliff the two were currently on. Only a few shapes moved, most of which were the remains of Madara's army and few Ninja. Naruto looked back at Madara who was almost completely gone now, a look of hate in his eye.

"If this is how it's gonna be..." muttered Madara as he focused on Naruto, a sickening gleam in his eye, "Take it! Take it Naruto Namikaze! My gift and curse to you!" shouted Madara while Naruto looked at him in confusion and terror, "Have a taste, of immortality!" A sudden burst of power shot off from Madara towards Naruto as the Space-time vortex expanded then contracted, sealing, taking Madara with it.

The burst of power hit Naruto bodily and sent him rolling to the edge of the cliff. Naruto started to slip off the edge and he barely managed to catch himself from falling the two hundred feet or so to the base. Power coursed through his body, making Naruto scream as the energies tore through his systems. Soon the pain became to much and his fingers slipped. He fell. "_Well...this is the end I guess...at least I managed to get rid of Madara..."_ Thought Naruto as he fell, a feeling of weightlessness overtaking him.

"_**Kit! We are not dying here!"**_ yelled the Kyuubi, desperately trying to power Naruto's system with what ever chakra the great fox could muster.

"_Don't bother fuzzball. We're gonna die here and there is nothing either of us can do...we're both too exhausted."_ replied Naruto to the Kyuubi who lowered it's head in defeat.

"_**At least it'll be quick..."**_ muttered the great demon

"_Yeah...at least..." chuckled_ Naruto, closing his eyes waiting for the inevitable. He began recalling his life, not that he wanted to, but he couldn't help it.

**In Naruto's mind**

"Die demon!" yelled a voice of one of the villagers

"You're the Kyuubi, you killed hundreds of ninja and almost destroyed this very village..." sneered Mizuki

"You're so annoying you blond idiot!" shouted Sakura in frustration

"Dobe..." muttered Sasuke. Naruto inwardly grinned at this _"Got what you deserved, you prick."_

"Please...bring him back..." cried Sakura

"You're weak. Always dead-last." sneered Sasuke

"Come with me, kid." said Jiraya. This brought a tear to Naruto's eye at the memory of his sensei.

"_**You insolent brat! Just who do you think you are!"**_ roared a furious Kyuubi, bringing Naruto to grin, even if slightly.

"Naruto!" Yelled a furious Tsunade

"Naruto..." seethed a furious Sakura

"N-naruto-kun!" yelped a surprised Hinata

"Naruto..." whispered a voice, almost lovingly.

"Naruto-kun, I love you!" shouted a beat up Hinata while facing off Pain.

"Naruto..." wavered a voice as a face materialized in front of him, Sakura's face, "Don't die, don't leave me...I...I love you..."

At this last voice Naruto's eyes snapped open, tears streaming from them. He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth before whipping around to face the quickly approaching ground. He drew on every last mili-gram of chakra he had left as well as the Kyuubi's and threw together a hand sign, two clones poofed into existence and started forming a ball of chakra in the real Naruto's outstreached hand, "Fuuton! Rasenshuriken!" yelled Naruto as he launched the spiraling sphere of chakra. Something seemed off though. The jutsu was not the normal blue color, instead it was greyish. The ball slammed into the ground, creating a dome of destruction just as Naruto reached the expanding dome, he was caught in the explosion and buffeting winds and used the force to slow his descent and throw him a few ten's of feet away. He land roughly on the grassy, hilly ground and rolled to a stop. He groaned in pain, yet glad to be alive, or so he believed himself to be. He lay there, just regaining his strength. After a few minutes he shakily stood up, ignoring the astounded and raging beast inside of him. As he broke the tree line he stumbled into the battle field and picked his way towards the Shinobi alliances base camp. He ran into a few survivors here and there. He helped one badly injured Kiri nin up after bandaging her leg up so she could walk/limp. Naruto continued walking until he saw a figure he wanted to see, though not in this situation. He ran as quickly as he could manage and reached the pink haired Kunoichi. "S-Sakura-chan..." croaked Naruto after falling to the kunoichi's side. She was covered in blood and her eye's were closed. Naruto reached out and felt for a pulse and sighed a breath of relief when he felt a weak beat in her neck, _"Thank kami..."_. He carefully picked her up bridal style and slowly walked the rest of the way to the camp.

About thirty minutes later, Naruto reached the camp and bee lined for the Konoha med tent, where he hoped Tsunade or Shizune were.

Up to present times (approx. 800 years...+9)

The sun rose on the quiet country side, illuminating the trees and hills of the land. The morning dew glimmered in the rays of the rising sun, throwing the woods into a spectacular hall of light. The inhabitants of said wood started to wake and set about their day. One particular inhabitant, or rather, a visitor, burst through a low bush and rolled on the ground as a small purple blur followed suite along with a yellow and brown blur. The yellow blur launched itself at the purple blur as it landed and tackled it to the ground. They both grappled for a second before the yellow thing jumped off, sparking with energy. "Pikachu, Thundershock it! Extra crispy!" yelled the first figure, a teen by the name of Ash. The yellow thing concentrated it's accumulated energy into it's cheeks and sent a blast of lightning at the purple rat like creature, striking it in the side, blasting a hole right through the poor creature and giving it a good searing. The smoking carcass dropped and the fur blew off in the wind as the skin flaked off revealing equally burnt out flesh. "Damn...fuckin' hate it when Rattata surprise me like that..." Ash shifted his weight to shake off any dirt and loosen his body from the run he just went through. "Let's go Pikachu." said Ash, holding out his hand. The yellow mouse nodded in acknowledgment before it ran and jumped onto Ash's arm after which it made it's way up to his shoulder. Ash hoisted his back pack further up his back and trudged off back towards his hometown of Pallet.

"Hey Ash!" yelled a guard as soon as Ash crested a hill, bringing the barriers around Pallet into view. The guard that called out waved vigorously and Ash returned the wave, though not quite as enthusiastic, "So, how'd it go?" queried the guard making Ash groan.

"Same as the last few times...got jumped by a Rattata, so Pikachu had to give it a shock." replied Ash, "Anything happen while I was gone Lee?" Lee grinned from beneath his helmet and reached to take it off, letting his medium, straight black hair loose, in the form of a bowl cut and also revealing two bushy eyebrows.

"Nothing off note. Just a Rattata or two, easily scared off. Most interesting thing was the Raticate we saw trying to sneak into town. Probably after an easy meal, well, let's just say he's the meal now." reported Lee boredly as Ash reached the barricade.

"So pretty much the normal everyday occurrences." mused Ash. He stopped and waited for the guards to raise the gate and let him in. The gate shuddered slightly and was drawn up enough for Ash to walk under, which he did. He waved at the guards and headed off for his surrogate grandpa's lab to give him the package he had been asked to collect from Viridian yesterday.

"Oh yeah, Ash!" called out Lee as Ash was walking away from the barricade. He turned and looked at Lee questioningly, "Almost forgot, a stranger came by and is staying here for a few days. He should be at the Professor's lab right now."

"Ok, thanks for for the heads up!" replied Ash who resumed walking towards Oak's lab, "_A stranger, huh...never really a good thing in my experience."_

**Ok...so...what do y'all think? Please drop your comments in the reception box below. Like with my other stories, flaming will be burned. I appreciate your opinions and constructive criticism, it helps me construct the story to be more appealing to you guys, the readers.**

**Next order of business, teams. Who would you like to see on Ash's team? If I make him a trainer, Naruto's team? Leave a review or send me pm (preferably review) and keep them Kanto for now. I'll do this again if this story gets far enough to carry over to other regions. Also, I plan to have a legendary travel with one or both either for a time, or, indefinitely. All legendaries are open to this. I'll take the main team (Pick up to 5 for each) anytime between now and about the 3rd chapter. Legendaries by the 6th (subject to change).**

**Ash Starter: Pikachu**

**Naruto's Starter: Vulpix**

**Thank's for your input in advance.**

**And also, don't forget to stop by and check out my other fic's if you haven't already.**

**~Sepherif,**

**Over and Out**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N – Well, pleasant surprise there...17 fav's, 15 alerts, 3 C2's and over one thousand hits...(long, low whistle) definitely didn't expect that after only one chapter. But, one review...come on people, clicking that review button, it's like a cookie jar, except no one's gonna yell at you out for leaving a review.**

**And you never know, you might just get a cookie _.**

**Anyway, I really do ask for reviews, especially considering the issue on what pokemon you would like to see travel with Ash and Naruto. I'll take the first 20 suggestions for each and make a poll. Remember, Kanto only and Ash has Pikachu for a started and Naruto's gonna have Vulpix.**

**And don't forget the legendary. That'll be a separate poll of 10 legends. The top voted will go to Naruto while the second place will go to Ash. Pick carefully, for I will be selective for these (ie: The main legends won't all travel with them. So, Moltres and Zapdos won't be traveling at the same time nor will say...Kyogre and Groudon.) I'm also gonna put a ban on Mewtwo, Rayquaza, Lugia and Giratina. I have plans for these guys that require them not to be in a pokeball.**

**~Sepherif**

**Oh yeah...you know the spiel...don't own anything except my plot and OC's (if I have any).**

**Meetings**

Ash walked along the well beaten trail to the main attraction of Pallet Town, Professor Oaks lab. Pikachu road along with Ash on his shoulder taking a short nap as he made his way through the sparse yet large town. "So...why do ya think Oak wants to see us Pikachu?" asked Ash almost to himself. He had taken to talking to his partner Pikachu when in the field a while ago seeing as though he would often be stuck out in the woods for days or weeks at a time and often felt the need to just say something, and the weird part is, the little yellow rodent seemed to understand and reply back.

"Pika-pikachu...pi..." replied the Pikachu almost lazily

"You're getting lazy, Pikachu...might be time for some...special training." grinned Ash while looking sideways at his yellow companion, who now, seemed a bit less tired and more attentive.

"Pipi...pikachu..." it responded in a careful and pleading tone that could only be taken as 'no please...not again...' Ash laughed and kept walking leaving his companion to sweat bullets in fear.

"Ah! Ash!" called out a voice. Ash looked over his shoulder to see his mother waving at him to come over.

"No time mom, gotta go see Professor Oak!" redoubling his pace, Ash set off before his Delia could stop him.

"But, I need some fertilizer..." Delia sighed and looked over at the huge pull wagon.

"Anyway, I think this will prove to quite interesting, don't you agree Naruto?" asked Professor Oak.

"Yeah, it'll be interesting alright, maybe I can also relieve some boredom..." replied the blond haired teenage looking figure. Naruto no longer wore his normal orange clothes as experience from hundreds of years of living had taught him better. Gone are his 'here I am, kill me now' orange clothes, he now wears black pants and a white shirt under a red jacket with orange flames dancing across the material. He also replaced his ninja scandals for brown leather combat boots. His hitai-ite was also missing from his forehead and instead attached to the lower right of his jacket over one of the pockets, the metal gleaming in the white lights of the spacious office. His face retained the whisker marks on the cheeks and his hair was still a mess, the biggest difference was his eyes, they no longer held the gleam of innocence they once did. Instead they held understanding, knowledge and an untold amount of pain and sorrow. The biggest change however was the odd looking egg in his lap that would occasionally twitch or sometimes even a scratching sound could be heard coming from inside it.

"Finding an egg unguarded in the wild though...that is rare, especially nowadays." mused Oak as he sat back in his chair, looking at Naruto, "Now, you said you'd like to be an official trainer, right? That's not an issue as I can register you and you even have a pokemon egg that seems close to hatching, so if you choose, that will act as your starter." Sitting back up, Oak turned towards his computer and hit a few keys and starting the registration process. "Full name, age, where you came from and do you have any current jobs?"

"Naruto Namikaze, my age huh...19, place where I come from...Fuschia City. As for if I have a job, I do odd jobs whenever I stop in at a town or city, so nothing permanent." recited Naruto, ignoring the odd looks Oak sent at him from the pause when telling his age and the comment about his town of origin. Oak wrote down all of the information and looked up at Naruto with a questioning gaze.

"Fuschia City huh? Long trip just to see me." stated Oak

"Well, as you know I had my reasons." replied Naruto grinning while patting the egg gently. Oak just sighs and hits another key, the computer responds by humming and making a musical note.

"Ok, your registered in my database. You can leave whenever that egg there hatches or you manage to catch a pokemon outside the town here." Oak then opens his drawer and pulls out a red box like device and plugged it into his computer. "I will ask that you stop by tomorrow to pick up a few things for your journey, believe me, you'll need them."

"Ok, sure. I don't plan to leave until this egg hatches anyway, so..." Naruto stretches and picks up the egg carefully setting it on Oak's desk before standing up. "What's the red thingy for?" asked the blond making Oak smiled triumphantly

"My master piece, the Pokedex. A library of all the pokemon in the world, is what I would like to say. All it needs is a few trainers to carry it around and catalog the different species. I have a collection of maybe about 30 pokemon in my basement from when I was a trainer, so those are already in here, though they are mainly evolutions of the basic form." said Oak, popping the cover open and turning the device on, "To the point, I'd like you to be one of those trainers to carry a Pokedex. I have two more trainers in mind, and you'll be meeting both as soon as they gets back." Oak then holds the device out for Naruto to take.

"Hmm...impressive. So, with it I would be able to find out about any pokemon in the database?" asked Naruto as he took the offered contraption, studying it over and playing with a few of the functions, pulling up the information on a Pidgey before finding his identification function.

"Exactly." replies Oak, smiling while leaning forward to point at a few certain buttons saying what they do, "Also, the information on each pokemon is sent back to me here and in turn is sent to everyone else. The sheer amount of pokemon in the world requires this. I plan to have at last 4 trainers in Kanto here, 5 in Jhoto, 7 in Hoenn and 6 in Sinnoh, this way we get a worldwide coverage. Although, I'm holding off on Isshu for now as I don't quite have the support to send a team there quite yet." as Oak explains his grand plan for the pokedex system a knock is heard on the office door. "Yes? Who is it?" one of Oak's lab assistants opens the door and steps in slightly.

"Professor, Ash is here, he said you needed to see him." said the assistant.

"Ah yes, send him in." Oak grinned while Naruto fiddled with the pokedex, grinning slightly at how familiar that line sounded. The assistant nodded and stepped out, calling for Ash to come to the office. Loud steps could be heard, easily identified as running and the raven haired teen appeared in the door way, slipping past the assistant and into a seat in front of Oak.

"Lee said you had something to tell me?" asked Ash, slightly winded, while Naruto, unnoticed, cringed at the name.

"Yes I did, but first, Ash meet Naruto, Naruto, Ash." Ash turns to Naruto and gives him a once over, sizing him up and smiles.

"Nice ta meet ya, I'm Ash Ketchum." he holds out his hand for a handshake, but Naruto just ignores it only giving him a sidelong look, unpleasantly reminded of a certain someone who had the same hair.

"Same here, names Naruto, Naruto Namikaze." Naruto just averts his gaze and turns back to Oak, "So, if that's everything, is there a place I can stay while I wait for the egg to hatch?" Oak sat back and closed his eyes, thinking.

"Well...I would offer you a place here, but I have no more room with the other new trainers staying here as well...there isn't a pokecenter here..." Oak trails off and then looks at Ash, "Would you and Delia mind putting Naruto up for a few days?"

"I'm not sure mom would mind and I'm out in the field again in another couple days. I don't mind." said Ash, "Is there anything else?" Oak's eyes lit up as he remembered the reason he called Ash here.

"Yes, I just finished talking to Naruto about it, but I also considered you for the same little project. Would you mind helping me out?" Ash grinned wildly and nodded, "Good. Now, what this project entails is..." Oak then proceeded to explain the whole thing to Ash who's grin, much to Naruto's amazement, only got wider.

"That's awesome!" shouted Ash, causing Naruto to wince slightly at the sudden and loud shout, "I mean, you really trust me to go around the world doing this?"

"Of course. I know you can take care of yourself Ash. Naruto here is in the same boat as well. He's gonna be doing the exact same thing, the other trainer is, of course, Gary." Ash's wide grin quickly turned to a sneer at the mention of the other boy's name.

"So...Gary, the so called 'prodigy' of training is gonna be going along too?" Oak eyed Ash carefully and just nodded, recalling the animosity between the two star trainers. Ash just snorted his discontent, "Well, as long as I don't have to put up with his arrogant shit, by which I mean I don't wanna travel with him, it's fine."

"Ash, please refrain from talking about my grandson like that in my presence." sighed Oak, rubbing his forehead in a futile attempt to alleviate the head ache he was starting to accumulate. Naruto, hearing this just smirked and stood up, cradling the egg.

"Well then, I shall be off." said Naruto, drawing the attention of Ash and Oak, "Where's your house Ash-san?"

"Well, if the professor is done with me for now, I'll take you over and make sure my mom doesn't completely overdo everything. Oh and here's the package from Viridian." replied Ash handing the package over while looking at Professor Oak expectantly.

"You're both free for now. Rest up and neither of you are to leave the town. I want you to travel together, not that I doubt you're abilities but there has been news of increased attacks by pokemon and also the unnerving rise of Team Rocket. I'd feel more comfortable with you two traveling together." Oak said with an undeniable authority permeating his voice as he took the package, receiving a casual flick of wrist from the blond and a respectful nod from the raven haired boy. Both left the office and walked out of the lab, making their way towards Ash's home.

"So Naruto, where are you from exactly. New faces around here are easily recognized, so expect people to ask this at every turn." asked Ash, ending with a bit of good humor is his voice.

"Fuschia City, I came to have this egg I found looked at by Sam-dono." replied Naruto, motioning to the egg he currently kept hidden under his jacket. "Sam-dono seems to thin it's something called a Vulpix. Never seen one, so I don't know much about them."

"A Vulpix huh, that's quite odd, from what I understand, it's mother will not just up and leave it, neither will it's father." mused Ash, catching Naruto's questioning glance, "They're a fox-like creature, red in color and commonly have four tails." At this, Naruto visibly flinched before groaning to himself thinking,

"_Is this a chance of fate, or Karma bitch slapping me in the face...I really hate you right now Kami-sama..."_ groaned Naruto to himself

"_**Hah! How rich! This is definitely going to be most fun I've ever had in a long time!"**_ Exclaims a deep, majestic voice.

"_Shut it Kyuubi...or will I have to make good on my promise to destroy you?"_ growled Naruto at the fox, effectively shutting it up.

"_**Kit, let an old fox have his fun once in a while. Besides, what would destroying me do for you? You know I can't do anything now that you have absorbed all of my power and even became a hanyou. I am powerless against you, Oh Hanyou Kitsune no Kyuubi."**_ replied the once great demon smugly with a hint of weariness in his voice, **_"Besides, you would loose your voice of reason and also,"_** the demons eyes twinkled with mirth, voice bubbling with laughter, _**"The one thing on this planet capable of outwitting you!"**_ Naruto just grunted in reply and shut off the mental link as he, once again, accepted Kyuubi's reasoning to him still being sentient, and to a greater degree, alive.

"So, Ash-san, what pokemon have you caught?" asked Naruto, ignoring the odd look he was getting from Ash.

"Well, I have my Pikachu here." Ash reached up and stroked the yellow mouse, causing it to squeak and nuzzle up into Ash's hand, "He's all I have for my own. The other pokemon are from Professor Oak for extra protection against other pokemon and bandits."

"Must be quite powerful then huh?" mused Naruto, eying the mouse curiously causing the rodent to return the gaze before it sniffed the air in curiosity and flinched before crossing behind Ash's neck to his other shoulder to get closer to Naruto before jumping off his shoulder and landing on Naruto's. It then proceeded to snuggle against Naruto's neck contentedly. Naruto looked confused and amused at the same time while Ash was perplexed and openly offended that his partner had taken to Naruto so fast when it had taken Ash several weeks just to get the yellow mouse to even acknowledge him.

"So much for friendship..." mumbled Ash and Naruto just grinned before nudging Pikachu with a finger and telling it to return to Ash. It did so, though not without reluctance.

"_**Oh yes...very interesting!"**_ roared the Kyuubi, grinning all the while.

**Ok...chapter done! Sorry for the massive delay there...I guess I'm just chronically lazy, a condition affecting about 99.99% of teens. Anyway, here you go and enjoy!**

**Referring to my note at the top of the page, leave a review by clicking on the pretty button below. The more ideas, criticism, opinions and cookies you leave, the faster chapters will be generated. As always, constructive criticism and opinions please, trolls and flaming will be burned.**

**Note reference part 2: Review with at least 5 pokemon choices from Kanto for Ash and Naruto respectively. Also leave a legendary travel companion suggestion or two.**

**Naruto Starter – Vulpix**

**Ash Starter – Pikachu**

**Y'all got till after the next chapter or I up and pick the teams for you. And till after chapter 6 for the legends till I do the same.**

**Over and out,**

**~Sepherif**


	3. Chapter 3

**Be sure to go back to Chapter 2 if you haven't already read it. Same day updating.**

**I will announce the pokemon teams the two will have for the Kanto region whether you have said anything or not in the Chapter 4 update. Chapter four may not come for a while, thus allowing you to voice your opinion. You will know when the 20 pokemon list per trainer has been reached as a poll will appear for only a few days for Naruto then Ash. Vote quickly, and I will says yes to two of one pokemon on a team.**

**Anyway...let the awesome continue!**

**P.S. - I don't Naruto or Pokemon, cause if I did Ash would be at least well known and dating Misty while Naruto wouldn't spam the Kage Bunshins and be going out with either Sakura or Hinata so...yeah. **Don't hate me.

**Journey's Start**

"Oh! Ash! Come here and help me with the gardening please!" shouted a tired looking Delia as Ash and Naruto rounded the corner of Ash's home and came into view of Delia.

"Uh...maybe in a bit. I did just get back from Viridian this morning and we also have a guest staying with us for a few days, if you don't mind." said Ash quickly as Delia's face went pouty then brightened at the mention of a guest.

"Oh! And while I assume he is the dashing young man standing next to you, what is our guest's name?" asked Delia sweetly, looking at Naruto curiously.

"My name is Naruto Namikaze, just call me Naruto please Ketchum-sama." Naruto then bows slightly, making Delia and Ash look at Naruto funny. Realizing the looks of curiosity he answers the unasked question with his trademark grin while scratching the back of his sheepishly, "I come from Fuschia City, lived with a very traditional family."

"Oh! So that must mean you're on of those ninja characters! That's so exciting! I've always wanted to meet one! And please, just call me Ms. Ketchum or Delhia." responded Delhia almost immediately while smiling and pulling off her garden gloves.

"Hai, Ketchum-san." responded Naruto who got another odd look, "Equivalent to Ms/Mrs. Ketchum." explained Naruto earning a nod and smile from Delhia once again.

"Well, come on in, you must be hungry. When did you get in to town? How old are you? Are you a trainer? Are..." While Delhia rambled on asking questions about Naruto, Ash just shook his head and opened the front door, ushering in an overwhelmed, question answering Naruto followed by a question asking Delhia. Ash closed the door again when everyone was onside and Delhia, her curiosity about their guest sated went off to make a quick dinner for the three of them. Ash guided Naruto to his room where he would be staying for the next days. Naruto nodded to Ash as he entered the guest room and slid the back pack slung across his shoulder onto the ground before setting the egg gently on his bed and removing his jacket. He sat down on the bed, leaning back against the wall watching the egg wiggle ever so slightly every now and then accompanied by the sound of small claws raking the interior of the shell. Grunting Naruto closed his eyes, processing everything he had come across that day.

"_**Hey kit, come here. I need to talk to you face to face."**_ growled the Kyuubi, earning a tired acknowledgment from the blond.

"_What is it Kyuubi?"_ asked Naruto as he materialized in his mindscape, now a forest with a large clearing surrounded by thick trees with a large gap between two of them and engraved in both trunks is the kanji for 'seal'. Naruto appears just outside the clearing, a few feet from the gap in the trees. "Gonna make fun of Karma slapping me in the face, again?"

"**Well..."** drawled the Kyuubi, grinning slightly as he eyed Naruto humorously, **"I wasn't going too...but I think I will now."** Kyuubi burst out laughing at the blonds look of pure malice that was shot his direction a second later.

"If you are done with humoring yourself, please get to the point before I just leave." growled Naruto menacingly. He made to sit down on a nearby stump as Kyuubi settled down just behind the seal. Naruto's visage wavered slightly and the air around him shimmered before glowing and dissipating, revealing a more feral looking Naruto with elongated canines, slitted canine like eyes the shade of red blood, sharper looking nails and even wilder looking, heavily red streaked hair. It also revealed two blood red fox ears poking out of the top of his head and nine blood red, white tipped tails sprouting of the base of his spine. The Kyuubi just sighed while shaking his head.

"**You know your appearance and power doesn't scare me, considering I am the Lord of Hell itself. Anyway, I just wanted to know what you are going to do with this new...development. It seems this Vulpix creature is a fox like being, so you should have no problem with it. The problem arises when more of it's kind flock to you, looking for leadership, or even try to...well...you know."** The Kyuubi chuckled s he saw Naruto shudder at the though of hundreds of four tailed foxes chasing after him, looking for a master to follow, some in more than one way. **"I also wish to know what you going to do else in your journey with this 'Ash' child."**

"Well, for starters, I'm going to do as I do, roll with it. The part about multiple Vulpix's chasing after me as a potential leader for their pack or as a potential mate, I'll deal with it as I see fit.Not by killing them of course, just exuding enough killing intent to discourage them from approaching me or by simply ignoring their advances and driving them off when necessary." said Naruto, earning an approving grunt from Kyuubi, "As for my plans pertaining to this journey, collect these gym badges and defeat the champions, you know I can never let a challenge like this go, especially when this could a few years to complete. Just think, a few years with a goal in mind and something to alleviate boredom, it's a golden chance I plan to not let pass me by. Also there is Oak's request, that will be even more fun."

"**I see...well have fun then, and you're right..." **chuckled the Kyuubi, **"This will be quite fun."** Naruto nods and stands up before fading away from his mindscape.

The next few days went by without incident, mainly consisting of Naruto walking around, familiarizing himself with the town and the townsfolk. He quickly became friends with many of the neighbors and was almost sad to be leaving within the next few days. The egg had yet to hatch, but it did seem close. To alleviate his boredom and get a head start, he went and bought a few pokeballs before leaving for a few hours with Ash to go try and catch a few pokemon, returning unsuccessful and with a few scratches, all of them on Ash though.

"How do you move like that Naruto..." queried a beaten up Ash while an exhausted Pikachu rest on his shoulder, "I mean, you where frickin' jumping off trees!"

"Well...I do come from a traditional family in Fuschia City, you didn't think I wouldn't be at least somewhat trained in the Shinobi arts?" replied a grinning Naruto, apparently enjoying the workout he just returned from.

"Hmph...what ever...still not fair you were able to dodge every single attack by those damn Rattatta and then the Spearrow! Definitely not one of my better experiences around here..." whined Ash, earning an even bigger grin from Naruto

"Well...if you want, I can teach ya a few things. Mainly things like taijutsu and kenjutsu." This piqued Ash's attention and he looked at Naruto as if asking 'what's that supposed to mean?' Naruto chuckled slightly, "How to fight hand-hand and also fight using different weapons." Ash's face brightened at this and Naruto grinned evilly.

"So...what kind of fighting styles do you know?" asked Ash excitedly

"Oh...a few. We'll start with a basic all-around style first and work into more specialized styles as you progress. As for weapons, we need to figure out what type of weapon fits you." said Naruto still with an evil grin plastered on his face. "I personally know how to fight with knives, throwing weapons, swords and bo staves."

"Well, I usually carry a survival knife with me. Not real good for throwing, but it can probably take a close combat fight." says Ash and Naruto nods, motioning to see the knife. Ash takes his knife out of the sheath and hands it to Naruto who examines it with a precise eye before snorting and handing it back.

"Sorry to say, but that knife won't last long enough in a fight if the other person is also using a weapon. If you want to survive out there, you need a tougher weapon." Ash takes the knife, slightly put off and stows it back in it's sheath. The two companions reach Ash's home and walk in, Naruto shedding his boots at the door from force of habit and jogged up the stairs to the guest room where he is staying to check on the egg. A shout could be from above and Ash ran up the stairs, almost slipping on the rug and appeared in the doorway of Naruto's room. There he saw the cause of the fuss, the egg was cracking and pieces were starting to fall inward. Both Naruto and Ash just stared as decent sized hole appeared near the top of the egg and a white, furry, wet mass could be seen inside the egg. Naruto silently moved towards the egg and pulled the egg shell apart enough so he could pull the white fox like creature out of the egg. It mewled softly and Naruto pulled a spare shirt out of the drawers by his bed and dried the fox off with it carefully. He then dropped the damp shirt on the floor and set the fox on the bed. It tried to stand up on shaky legs and promptly fell back down, it's single snowy tail waving around as it tried to find it's balance. Naruto just let it find it's way to it's feet, where it stood shakily and opened it's eyes to look around. It caught sight of Naruto first and gave him a curious sniff before it walked/stumbled over to him and tried to climb into his lap. After a small boost from Naruto, it sat down on his legs and looked up at his face curiously before it yawned and scooted towards his stomach and curled up, falling asleep almost instantly.

"So...that's a Vulpix...huh?" murmured Ash in wonder. "I didn't know they were white...thought they were red'ish in color."

"They are. When born they have only one tail which splits over time into multiple tails. A days few after hatching it starts to take on its natural color." said Naruto as he stroked the small fox. He then gently picked it up and hugged it close to his chest and then walked towards Ash, smiling. "Well, Oak wanted to see it after it was born, I'm gonna go and see him for some...uh...raising tips." Ash nodded and moved out of the way and Naruto breezed past and headed for Oak's lab.

"Oh! Ash dear! Where's Naruto? He promised he would help with the chores after he got back." said Delia as she walked over looking around. She noticed the egg fragments and practically started squealing from joy as she realized just what that meant.

"Yeah mom, the Vulpix hatched, Naruto just wet over to Oak's as requested." said Ash, sighing, "I guess that means we are leaving within the next few days.

"Come in!" sounded a voice, answering the knock on his office door. The door opened to reveal Naruto holding the white Vulpix. "Ah! So the Vulpix hatched huh? Let's go make sure it's ok then." Naruto nodded and followed Oak as he jumped off his chair and briskly walked deeper into his lab. They eventually reached a series of machines that seemed to be made for small pokemon. Oak motioned for Naruto to set Vulpix on one of the machines. When Naruto did, Oak turned on the machine and a series of numbers flashed across the small screen recording the weight, length and various other physical aspects. The small fox shifted around throughout the quick medical exam and eventually woke up, blinking wearily and looked around. Not seeing Naruto, it looks around vigorously trying to find it's 'mommy'. It turned it's head towards a sudden crashing noise and yips shrilly. The cause of the crash, being Naruto as he was carrying a bag of food and tripped on stray wire. Hearing the foxes distressed yips, he jumps up and runs into view of the creature. The Vulpix calms down slightly at seeing it's 'mommy' but still whimpers pitifully. Naruto smiles warmly and walks up to the white fox, petting it softly to calm it down.

"Naruto! Is everything all right?" shouted Oak from across the lab

"Yeah! I'm fine. Oh and Vulpix woke up." replied Naruto loudly. A minute later Oak appeared from behind some machinery and peered at the small animal which cowered behind Naruto at the mans gaze.

"Seems to have a Timid nature, though that might change as it gets older." states Oak who then turns and taps a few keys on a keyboard connected to one of the machines. "Your Vulpix is perfectly healthy, though I'd advise letting it get used to the world for a few days first. You can set off whenever you like, just be sure to have Ash help you catch a few Pokemon for you to use for your own protection until Vulpix there grows into it's power." Naruto just nods at this before picking up the fox and stroking it gently.

"Then I better get to packing then. Don't want to keep Ash waiting too long to get on the road." chuckles Naruto remembering Ash's enthusiasm at getting on the road as soon as possible.

"I'll let you get to it then, please don't hold back on my account." replies Oak, grinning bemusedly, "Oh yes, before you two leave, come and pick the equipment I have for the both of you." Naruto nods and strides out of the lab and heads back to the Ketchums' house.

"H-hello N-n-naruto." stutters a girl, causing Naruto to turn his head in her direction. She is blushing slightly and looking down in an attempt to hide her blush while subconsciously rubbing the tip shoe into the ground. She wears a light blue tank top with an intricate silver design on it that seems to barely hold a rather nice endowment with a darker blue skirt that goes just beyond her knees. Her hair is an extremely dark blue color, almost black that falls to her just below her shoulders and her eye's are silvery in color matching with her milky skin complexion.

"Hello Summer-san, how are you today?" asks Naruto cheerily, noticing the obvious signs of her liking him, the personality and actions around him also reminded of Naruto of one certain woman from his past _"If only I had been able to save her that time..."_ Summer just blushed more, further cementing the likeness, making Naruto silently laugh to himself.

"I-I'm good...th-thank you." replies Summer shyly, increasing the pressure in her foot, grinding a deeper hole in the ground. "And h-how are y-you N-naruto?"

"Well, the usual I guess, happy, hyper and ready to go!" says Naruto, grinning while Summer giggles slightly and looks up Naruto's face for a second before blushing harder and looking back down. At this exact moment, another voice sounds farther down the road, causing Naruto to cringe and Summer to look at the newcomer with a small bit of hostility.

"Yahoo! Naruto!" cheers a loud, ringing voice before Naruto finds himself being glomped onto from behind, another fine pair pressing into his back, "How are you today you handsome fox you?" cooed a voice into his ear making Naruto shiver slightly from the cool air hitting his sensitive ears.

"I'm good Reena-san." replied Naruto curtly while thinking to himself, _"Tch, fan girls...I think I can finally understand that Teme's pain in this matter..."_ He pried Reena off him and turned to face the girl. She wears a bright orange shirt, cut to reveal quite a bit of midriff and also reveals a decent amount of cleavage. Along with that she wears a pear of light colored skinny jeans, accentuating her shapely legs among other things. Her hair was a light blond color, falling down her back to her waist, almost white in color in some parts and she also sported a dark tan which brought out the color in her green eyes better. "If your here to ask for a date, I can't. I have to get ready to leave on my trip tomorrow." Both girls visibly deflated, but then Summer noticed the white furred critter cuddled to Naruto's chest, hidden slightly by his jacket. She awed at the creature who eyed her curiously, it then shifts in Naruto's hold to get a better look at Summer. Reena notices the movement and also awes at the little fox.

"Oh...it's so cute!" exclaims Reena while Summer just smiled warmly, reaching out her hand to pet the Vulpix. The little creature shyed away from both girls, trying to hide in Naruto's jacket making the two girls awe more and Reena go off on how cute it was.

"Anyway, I really have to go, I'll see you both later." Naruto swiftly slips out of the two girls range and silently walks off, leaving the two girls wondering how he keeps doing that.

Ash was looking over his small supply of essentials laid out on his bed, going over the things he would need for the coming journey. "Ok...extra clothes, pokeballs, trail food, steel striker, utility knife, sleeping bag, small tarp, toothbrush, water bottle...anything I'm missing?" muttered the boy to himself thoughtfully, passing a glance over his room.

"Ash dear, remember to pack extra underwear!" shouted Delhia from the kitchen, making Ash practically trip as he was passing to his desk to pick up the flashlight in one of the drawers.

"Mom!" shouted/whined Ash, thoroughly embarrassed, despite no one else being in the house except the two. Ash then hears the door open and close followed by Delhia's cheery welcome back, letting Ash know that Naruto had just returned from Oaks lab.

"Hey Ash, you packed up yet?" yelled Naruto from below

"Almost done! How bout you?" retorted Ash

"I've been packed since this morning, and remember, we leave **early** tomorrow morning." replied Naruto making Ash sweat drop at the emphasis on early. Ash knew Naruto's version of early and would forever curse the blond at the 5:00 wake ups, mainly consisting of a large bucket of icy water or an extremely loud noise of some sort. Ash grumbled and threw some more odds and ends onto his bed to pack with him. Walking around, he made sure he had packed all the necessities of going out in the field before stuffing the various items in side pouches for easy access or deeper into his pack. Done with packing he sauntered out of his room and down the stairs into the family kitchen, scrounging around for a quick bite to eat.

"Ash honey! I'm about to make dinner so don't ruin your appetite ok!" shouted Delhia from the living room earning a low grunt as Ash let the fridge door close, snatching an apple from the fruit bowl. He jogged back upstairs and turned to go into his room when he remembered he had to ask Naruto something. He about faced and knocked on the guest room's door.

"Come in." mono-toned a voice from inside, making Ash raise an eyebrow. Monotone definitely wasn't in Naruto's speech patterns from what Ash could recall over the past few days. Ash carefully opened the door to see Naruto sitting on the bed staring at a picture before he quickly put it away in his bag.

"You alright Naruto? You seem a bit down." asked Ash looking at Naruto's travel pack, where he caught a glimpse of a masked face and pink hair before it was covered by the flap.

"Yeah...fine. Just remembering a few friends." answered Naruto, loss evident in his voice. "And wishing I cold have done more to help them."

"Then I can assume they...passed on." said Ash with a hint of his own sadness, also recalling friends who had had an unfortunate encounter with a pair of Raticate a few years back.

"Yeah...all of them, when my home town was destroyed. I was the only survivor." Naruto leaned back against the wall, staring up at the ceiling with a distant look in his eye. "Anyway, what did you want?"

"I just wanted to ask if you were still gonna teach me those tai-jutsu and ken-jutsu styles you said you knew, also to ask if we could possibly set off a bit later than we planned, I have something to take care of before we leave." upon receiving a nod from Naruto, Ash nods back silently and hands Naruto a pokeball who, realizing what it is, taps the button to his Vulpix's nose, causing it to disappear in a burst of red light. "For what it's worth...I'm sorry." With that Ash quietly leaves the room, leaving Naruto to his thoughts.

Light glinted off the glass windows of the quiet town of Pallet, signaling the beginning of a new day as well as the start of a journey that would rock the foundations of the country as the people knew it. A figure could be seen sitting on the roof of one of the many small houses, watching the sunrise, deep in thought. "Time to go, huh?" mumbled the figure to itself. It is then joined on the roof by a small mouse like creature which hopped up into the figures shoulder and watched the sunrise with it's partner. A door opening then closing beneath the figure caused it to swivel it's head as he saw a blond headed man stroll out and head in the direction of Oak's lab.

"Ash! I'm going to pick up the items Oak has for us. I'll be back in about 30 minutes. We'll be leaving by 9:00, ok." shouted the blond. The figure on the rooftop grunted an acknowledgment as it stood up and swung from the ledge to the balcony below. "I'll take that as an ok..." as Naruto walked off, Ash slipped downstairs and outside, heading off to the small graveyard, set on a hill near the small port the town head, over looking the sea.

"Hey guys, just coming by to say hi...and see ya." started Ash looking somberly at the graves of his friends, "I'm leaving for an adventure today. I don't when I'll be back, or in this world if I even will be back, but that's not really important right now..." trailing off, he decided to just stand in silence, mulling over his thoughts much like a certain silver haired ninja had in a different world and time. He watched as the sun slowly rose higher into the sky before smiling and turning away, heading back towards his house to retrieve his pack.

"Finish what ya needed to?" asked Naruto who was sitting at the kitchen table, reading a small book while munching on an apple.

"Yeah. Ready to go?" Naruto just grinned, giving Ash his answer as they both bounded upstairs to collect their gear. A couple minutes later saw them both walking out the door, with a smiling Delia.

"My little boy...off to take on the world...he's so grown up..." suddenly remembering something, Delia grinned devilishly and followed them out to the town gate where a good majority of the town could be seen to send off the three young men.

"Gary...will you kindly shut the fuck up...this is bad enough that I actually have to travel with you so I'd appreciate you not insulting me at every turn." yelled an irate Ash at a smirking brown haired boy.

Now, Gary, before Naruto came by, was the small town's heart throb, his 'cool and classy' demeanor made many a girl immediately claim their undying love, making one certain blond pinch the bridge of his nose. Ash on the other hand was shouting at Gary for claiming that he was to weak to go on a journey such as this and he was the only one 'qualified enough' to do so. He had a handsome face with medium length brown locks framed the boys face along with a small ponytail off the base of his skull. His eyes, a dark onyx, lips pulled into a tight smirk. He wears a purple shirt and gray pants with brown combat type boots. A cloak completes his ensemble. He snorts and puts his hands on his hips (Naruto draws the conclusion that his very feminine) revealing three pokeballs to Naruto and Ash's one.

"It's obvious to everyone here who is superior. Pretty boy over there just got his Vulpix to hatch and you have a little Pikachu. I, on the other hand, have my Eevee, Pidgeotto and Raticate. I could easily wipe the floor with either of you." sneered Gary making Ash fume and Naruto grin.

"Maybe in a battle between our partners...but what about if it was just you versus me?" queried Naruto, grinning foxily, staring right at Gary who began to fidget. "I'm an unknown level of skill, don't antagonize me lest it become...detrimental, to your health." Naruto just let the threat hang, letting Gary sweat it over a bit before Oak walked up, coughing to gain the assemblies attention.

"Now, I can see that there are a few...problems here, but try to work together. Gary, you may split with them after you get to Cerulean City, but I do ask you find yourself a travel partner by then as well. There is safety in numbers. Now, I expect all of you to avoid the organization known as Team Rocket. They may come over as pleasant, but I have my reasons to suspect them of more, controversial things. Anyway, be safe, collect lots of data for me and go for the Indigo Plateau." Naruto and Ash nodded respectfully, saying they would be careful. Gary just grunted in recognition and Oak sighed. "Alright...good-bye you three." Several people also said their good-byes, or in Gary's case, a frenzied mob of fan-girls all proclaiming their love and wishing him to be safe. Ash got a few good-byes from his friends and almost a diatribe on how 'youthful' his adventure would be, which was, to the relief of many, shut down by Naruto. Naruto himself got a few good-byes and a even got to be the rope between Reena and Summer as they tried to both give him their respective good-byes first. Like always, he just magically slipped from their grasp. Gary started off towards the rolling hills and woods dubbed as Route 1 followed by Naruto and Ash, and not to let the opportunity pass up, Delia rushed forward and shouted towards the group.

"Don't forget to change your underwear you three, ok!" The gathered people collectively face vaulted anime style and the three travels shouted back near unintelligible replies before picking up their pace, thoroughly embarrassed. Delia just smiled and huffed, her work done, she skipped back merrily to her house.

As the group of three walked walked off towards their fate, a long way away, the gears fell into place for one of the most insidious, world shifting plans ever to be set into motion. Prepare for trouble.

**And...we're done! Woah...now I know some of you people are probably kinda, maybe, really pissed at how long it's taken me to update. All I can say is...LOOK! A DISTRACTION! (runs away from angry mob)**

**Did I make Gary douchey enough? Kinda unimpressed with it myself. Also, I know the whole 'birth' scene looks like crap. I tried, tried and tried about 3 more times and that was the best I could come up with. Sorry to disappoint. And yes, there will be characters reminiscent of the Naruto-verse characters (Summer=Hinata, Reena=Ino, Gary=Sasuke'ish, Ash=Kiba'ish, Lee=Lee etc.), just match them up accordingly.**

**Anyway, attempts at humor aside, I proudly present chapter 3, my longest one yet! Almost 6 pages at size 10 font (not including the Author note). The fun stuff starts next chapter (laughs evilly followed by a hacking cough).**

**Remember to insert your opinions and selections for the pokemon teams into the box labeled "REVIEWS". The next chapter won't come for a while, so expect a it of a wait (hopefully not as long as this last one was). Flaming will be burned and troll's slayed. If there is an important issue you feel that needs to be raised, pm me or leave a signed (non anonymous) review so I can get back to you.**

**Remember, 5 Kanto selections for Naruto and Ash respectively as well as a legendary selection. Next time a chapter's posted, it's gonna be too late for the Kanto selections. Gary's team is not open poll, sorry people. I got a line-up ready for him. Anyway, team's revealed next chapter, for everyone. Acquisition will happen periodically, also the team's are the final one's, so other pokemon will pop in and out of the team as I see fit for the plot.**

**Sepherif,**

**Over and out.**


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